In the annals of very long swims, there have been some extraordinary events catalogued. But some of the most incredible were logged by a singular, American character, the legless Charles Zibelman of Chicago.
Zimmy told a tale of having lost his legs in a tragic streetcar accident at age nine, but according to a World Open Water Swimming Association blog post, after extensve research, International Swimming Hall of Fame historian Bruce Wigo concluded that Zimmy actually had caudal regression syndrome, a disorder that affects the development of the lower part of the spine that caused him to be born without legs.